Darryl Cunningham plans to be clad in purple in the first fight he takes after facing former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik on Saturday in a Showtime-televised super middleweight bout at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio.
Cunningham may fit the boxing dictionary definition of ?tomato can,? but the 36-year-old southpaw from Detroit isn?t upset that few give him a chance to survive more than a few rounds again Pavlik, let alone win.
Cunningham vowed that he not only will win but also said he?ll be so impressive in doing so that marketers for Yahoo! will be begging him to sign an endorsement contract.
?I?m coming to win the fight,? Cunningham said. ?This is my opportunity to shine. I?m not going to lay down, for Kelly Pavlik or for anybody else. The thing is, people may look and say, ?Oh, he?s fought Rubin Williams. He?s fought Antwun Echols. Those guys were through; they were old and washed up.? That?s OK because the people saying that don?t know me and they can?t measure what?s pumping in my chest. He has a plan and he?s going to do this and that, but what?s he going to do when I hit him with my left, when I pound him with a body shot, when I catch him with that check hook?
?I have something in my arsenal I call ?The Obama.? I have something I call ?The Pacquiao? and ?The Joe Frazier.? He?s going to see things he?s never seen before. Nobody may know me now, but the whole world is going to know me after this fight. And they?re not only going to know me, they?re going to love me.?
Cunningham is a personal trainer who said he does 800-900 sit-ups per day. He said he never has smoked or drank and said he believes he has the body of a 19-year-old.
Boxing, he said, is about connections and he said it?s as much about whom you know as what you can do. He said he just hasn?t gotten the opportunity to be in a visible spot and thus, few boxing fans know of him.
?You need big-time connections or a lucky break to get these kinds of fights,? Cunningham said. ?No one knows who I am, so how are they picking against me? On the basis of what? I?m an unknown, just like many years ago, Kelly Pavlik was an unknown. It?s not like Kelly Pavlik was born as a famous middleweight champion. He worked hard and he fought his way up and forced people to pay attention to him.
?That?s what I?ve been doing. I?ve been in the background working hard, doing my thing, and nobody has noticed. But now I have this opportunity, and people are going to know Darryl ?Son of a Preacher Man? Cunningham, the people?s choice. I?m going to win this thing, and Yahoo! is going to be calling me wanting me to endorse them and everybody else is going to say, ?Why was I sleeping on that kid? He can fight.? ?
